Ukrainian firefighters put out a fire at the Kharkiv Housing and Communal College in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on June 21. (Sofia Bobok / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images)
Ukrainian authorities have announced an increase in Russian shelling around the northeastern city of Kharkiv over the past 24 hours as the evacuation of people from Russian-occupied territories continues.
“Within 24 hours, the occupiers shelled the Kyiv, Industrial, Saltiv and Nemishlyan districts of Kharkiv,” the head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, Oleg Sinegubov, told his official Telegram channel.
As a result of the Russian strikes at night, the building of one of the schools in the Kiev district of Kharkov was significantly damaged, the premises were destroyed by 40%.
A CNN team in the Kharkiv region heard explosions in the distance around 11 pm local time (4 am ET), later confirmed that they came from the educational institution mentioned by Syniehubov University – in the crash.
According to Sinegubov, three civilians have been killed and seven injured in the past 24 hours.
On the line of contact, Ukrainian forces repulsed attacks in the area around Izyum, while Russia continued to maintain a defensive position around Kharkov, trying to prevent a Ukrainian offensive, Sinegubov added.
Fighting began as 993 people, including 254 children, were evacuated from the temporarily occupied territories in the Kharkiv region, according to Sinegubov. More than 30 buses to Chukhuyev and Kharkiv were used for the evacuation.
A bit of background: As of June 7, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported about 7.3 million border crossings from Ukraine, with at least 4.8 million refugees in Europe.
In May, Russian authorities said nearly 1.1 million people had been evacuated from Ukraine to Russia since the February 24 invasion. Of this figure, about 200,000 are children.
Add Comment